


Emergency Cuddling

by Kinkri



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen, Huddling For Warmth, Hypothermia, M/M, almost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 14:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11946288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinkri/pseuds/Kinkri
Summary: Emil falls in the ice.





	Emergency Cuddling

Lalli stepped on the ice and nearly fell on his face. After steadying himself to prevent any more undignified mess-ups, he took another careful step, and was grateful to find traction. He’d assumed the frozen waterway had a thick layer of snow on top, when it seemed to only have a half-inch dusting of powder. After the initial slip, however, he seemed to have his footing and could continue without trouble. After a couple dozen steps, he stopped in his tracks again, bending his knees and splaying his hands out after feeling a slight jolt in the ice. He froze, waiting for a break to follow, but one didn’t come. He relaxed, and straightened out. 

He glanced over his shoulder, where Emil was struggling across the ice with his less agile frame. Lalli rolled his eyes and moved to continue forward, until a sharper jolt stopped him, immediately followed by a crack and a yell. Lalli whipped around to see Emil hunched over, on one knee, eyes wide, staring at the ice below him, with both his hands gripping the ice. A tense moment passed before Emil raised a hand and started to say “I’m fi—” before the ice gave out under him and he fell in with a splash. 

Lalli nearly slipped again starting to run, but pushed himself back up and sprinted towards the break. He let his legs come out from under him when he got near to it, letting his momentum slide him near the edge, and scrambled the rest of the distance. Lalli was relieved to see that Emil had managed to keep his head above the water, but he still wasn’t doing well, breathing hard and trying to grab the ice but the water spilling over was making it even slicker, and so he kept slipping back into the water. Lalli thrust his arms into the water, clenching his teeth as his muscles tightened from the cold, grabbed Emil underneath the armpits, and leaned back to haul him up onto the ice using his own weight. Lalli held his breath waiting for the ice to break again under their combined weight, but, thank the gods, it held. He dragged them both away from the break, and lifted Emil up, propping him up with an arm over Lalli’s shoulders. They loped back towards the shore, and as soon as they reached it, Lalli sat Emil down and started working on unzipping his own jacket.

“What are you doing?” Emil stuttered out before coughing. Lalli didn’t answer, just pulled his jacket off his arms and started pulling his undershirt over his head. 

From the expression on Emil’s face, it looked as if he would be blushing, if he was warm enough to get any blood to his cheeks. More blood tried to rush to his cheeks as Lalli started to unzip his sopping wet wool jacket and throw it off him. He peeled the wet undershirt off so fast Emil was worried he’d rip it, although that was a bit of a skewed priority on Emil’s part. Lalli glanced at Emil’s belt, and Emil started to protest before Lalli decided to leave it alone. Lalli sat emil up in something like a hug, leaned against each other, with Lalli’s arms underneath Emil’s, as Lalli wrapped his dry jacket around them both, with the zipper open on his back. He also grabbed Emil’s wetter, larger coat, and wrapped it around them both, the opposite orientation to his own. He struggled to try and zip it, before giving up and simply holding Emil against him, his own warm skin against Emil’s cold chest. 

Emil’s heavy head kicked into gear, and he remembered this procedure from his basic military first-aid training, and realized why Lalli was hugging him. He blinked, and whispered, “Thanks.”  
“Shut up,” Lalli replied eloquently. Emil hadn’t learned that Finnish phrase yet, but he got the gist, as Lalli had accompanied the remark with a flick to his ear.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Emil probably wouldn't have been hypothermic after such a short time in the water, but better safe and cuddly than sorry


End file.
